Harper defies calls to take responsibility for rally ejections

MARKHAM, Ont. – Stephen Harper continues to defy calls to take responsibility for the ejection of individuals from Conservative rallies for apparent connections with other parties.

Harper has been under fire after two university students were ejected by organizers from a Conservative rally earlier this week in London, Ont. One of the students, 19-year-old Awish Aslam, said she was shown the door over a photo on her Facebook account showing her with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

Harper has brushed off the controversy, saying his staff are responsible for organizing rallies and other day-to-day operations. On Wednesday, he sidestepped questions about why he isn’t taking personal responsibility for the ejections. He also declined to answer a question about whether the Conservatives are monitoring Facebook and other social-media sites to weed out individuals who aren’t true-blue Conservatives.

For the second straight day, Harper refused to comment directly on specific cases of individuals denied entry. Instead, he said it was a sign of strength that the Tories have been turning away people at the door.

“We have had thousands of people, far more people come out to hear us than the other guys have,” Harper told reporters at an auto-parts plant in Markham, northeast of Toronto.

“Look, I think when the other guys are complaining we’re turning people away, and they can’t get people, I think that tells you how this campaign is going, I want to get our message out to as many people as are interested in hearing it. . . . I think it’s better when you’re turning people away than we you can’t get people to come out.”

Harper turned the question on his political opponents, once again labelling the other parties as a “coalition.”

“We’re getting people to come out — the other guys are having their problems — is because people didn’t want this election, people wanted this government to keep governing, they don’t want a coalition, they don’t want to raise taxes, they don’t want to take chances with the economy, they want us to keep governing and moving the economy forward.”

Harper has been criticized for running a “bubble” campaign in which members of the general public are generally barred from attending his tour events. Those who want to attend Conservative rallies must pre-register with the party, and local organizers make sure individuals are on the list before letting them in.

The Conservatives say people off the street can attend, but they must first show identification.

Aslam and a friend signed up for the rally in London Sunday with the help of her friend’s father, who is a Conservative.

About 30 minutes after she arrived, she and her friend were approached by two officials and were asked to go outside the door, she told Postmedia News on Tuesday.

Once there, she said one of the officials ripped the Conservative stickers that had been previously given to them off their clothing “and ripped them into pieces.”

“He said, ‘You are no longer welcome here,'” she said.

Aslam and her friend were upset and wondered what had gone wrong.

“He said, ‘We know you have ties to the Liberal party through Facebook.'”